Saint Jerome in Penitence

Bernardino LuiniAbout 1525

Museo Poldi Pezzoli

In front of a cave, Saint Jerome strikes his breast with a stone while his other hand rests on a skull. At the same time he looks at a crucifix tied to the branch of a tree. Near the saint is a lion, his traditional attribute.The landscape in the background is depicted with great care and precision. The composition and the naturalistic type of setting reflect Luini’s knowledge of the art of Andrea Solario. St. Jerome penitent, a subject painted a number of times by Luini, is represented in this panel with meticulous details, as his white beard and his intense gaze fixed on the crucifix. This painting one of the artist’s masterpieces and it dates from about 1525